Surgeon uses Google Glass to get critical data

January 15, 2014

Transcript

-It's a routine lung biopsy for Dr. Pierre Theodore.
Alongside his surgical tools, he's experimenting with a piece of tech, Google Glass.
-Inside of the glass, what I'm seeing are CT images which are basically cross sectional x-rays of the patient's chest and allows me to operate the same time I have this critical data right in front of me.
-Wearing Google Glass is like wearing your Smartphone on your face.
You can read your email, make phone calls, and take videos and photos.
Doctors in other hospitals have used Google Glass to broadcast live video of surgeries.
Dr. Theodore is instead focused on getting information.
In lieu of looking behind him on a screen, Dr. Theodore can just take a quick glance up, which he says, saves time and improves patient's safety.
-The advantage of the Google Glass is that the images come up really at exactly the same point of care, so the physician doesn't really need to leave the operating room, doesn't need to turn to different direction, doesn't need to leave the
operating room table and some cases even scrubbing out to look at films.
-During the hour-long lung surgery, Dr.
Theodore says he caught up eight different images and had Google Glass activated for roughly a quarter of the time.
-Sometimes that can really matter and not have to change one's attention at a critical portion of an operation.
So, what we're really seeing in my mind, is kind of a tantalizing glimpse into the future.
-One of Dr.
Theodore's goals is to take this wearable technology out of this operating room, worldwide; the hospitals in developing countries.
-It can
serve as both a teaching tool and a way of augmenting the skills of physicians in resource limited places.
-The Google Glass pilot program at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, has uncovered a few limitations of the technology.
Voice commands are insufficient.
The battery drains quickly and the image size is relatively small.
Still, it's an encouraging first step.
In San Francisco, I'm Kara Tsuboi, CNET.com for CBS News.